Thursday, June 21, 2007

Okay, I know ive been terrible about posting, but I gotta get at least this one in for those of you still keeping up.

Graduation was so moving and after that the principal told me she had no one to take me over for next year.

The next day, she called me in to her office and offered me 2,000 more to come back.

Today I called her to tell her that I'd love to be a teacher in her school next year. She shrieked with happiness.

She offered me $500 to do a full friday like ive been doing till now but instead of doing half 8th half seventh, id do 7th a full day cos my co is not coming in fridays anymore.

So I'm getting $2500 more to do exactly what I did this year.

I'm also planning to start college at night so I 'know I'm going to be very stressed next year. The principal also offered to give me free subbing days where another teacher would take over my class so that I could do my marking in school without wasting time at home.

I think I have it good.

I cried when I walked into my classrooms today to pick up my books. I guess I didn't realize how much I loved teaching.

I realized today that teaching is not about making a difference in others lives as much as its about making a difference in your own life.

It definitley has changed my life. And though I know I have my down days and that next year is going to be very hard, teaching is what I love to do. I'm adjusting to mommyhood and I think that as JB grows I can learn to be there for him and for myself.

Next year will tell me more.

I know I didn't make a mistake, and I hope I don't regret this.

If I have the time I'll go back and post what stuff is missing. Right now I'm enjoying summer.

I'm not going to blog next year- I'll be too busy with a million other things, but up till here, it was great- thanks for coming along for the ride!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The 8th grade began learning the Holocaust on Monday. They loved their books and kept flipping ahead as I was teaching. I'm so happy it worked out well even though I wished I had more time to spend on it. Right now I'm pretty much flying through, hoping to get it all done before the end of the week.

The 8th grade and 7th grade are having a joint party on Friday where the 7th grade will say goodbye to the 8th, and the 8th will "hand over" the seniority.

The class had to come up with something cute to give out to the 7th grade so of course, it fell on my shoulders.

I walked across Boro Park in the rain last night to put together an adorable mug filled with little prizes that all had something to do with the 7th graders taking the 8th grader's places.

The 8th graders were thrilled with it, especially because it only cost about a dollar apiece LOL.

I worked like mad the last few days trying to cram everything in before school ends. Report cards, rating sheets, comments, progress reports, last minute marks, finishing the curriculum, and 1000 other things that came up.

The 7th grade got on my nerves last Wednesday when I walked into class and no one had done the sheet I had given them on Tuck Everlasting right. I was so upset about it. They had all day to do it, and they didn't.

Not only that, but some girls claimed they didn't understand the book- ITS ON A 4TH GRADE LEVEL!!!

Love the kids.

I was angry with NN and DA and SE and CSS for not even bothering to have handed in the sheets they were supposed to have given in to the sub, and then RA piped up and said that I wasn't to blame NN for anything because she finished first in the class.

If looks could kill.... I glared at RA and almost shouted, "Did I ASK you??" She kept quiet for the next 15 minutes. 15 minutes of pure bliss.

Today the 7th grade was hilarious. They were begging me to stay for the next year. They claimed that I knew them well and that I would be the best to work with them than another stuffy teacher who didn't know them. And besides, I was interesting.

They asked me why I was leaving, and I told them that not everything I decided was for them to know. RB then wrote me a persuasive essay so that I should stay in school for 8th grade.

DA and CK were going to the principal to beg her to do something to make me stay. I love them too LOL.

I finally finished the 7th grade curriculum in history and now all I have to do is finish Tuck Everlasting, and then I can feel accomplished.

Now DH is asking me if I really want to stay in school for next year. Oh boy.

MB was at my friends house for Shabbos two weeks ago and saw my little JB there when I popped by for a visit. I had hinted to her that on Friday there would be a surprise, and she told the class about it.

Today she wanted to know what the surprise was, and I told her it was the party that they were doing for the 8th grade. I think she was a little disappointed; as if she was expecting more.

I am going to call her Thursday night and tell her to wait outside school for me Friday morning for another surprise- I plan on bringing JB into school (already got permission) and I'll ask her to help me get his carriage up the stairs. She'll be thrilled.

I thought I had so much more to write, but I cant remember what. That's what happens when I let my blog slip for a week. :(

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

I started off my week with a history test in the 8th grade- last one for the year.

In the seventh grade, I pretty much prepped them for what they had to do the next day when I was going to be away with the 8th grade on their graduation trip.

I got some free time when the 7th grade had a model lesson. The girl was trying out for my job. I heard she wasn't really what the school was looking for. When I came back into class at the end of the day, the girls were busy telling me all the mistakes she had made.

RA was absent by the way, and it made the day so much better. :)

I was up at 4:30 Tuesday morning and was in school by 5:30. I was there before any of the students and even the principal. Felt kind of awkward to be there alone with the bus driver and his huge coach bus. Especially because the pig was checking me out from head to toe and winking every time he opened his mouth to tell me anything.

Finally, the girls started showing up- some were late. We ended up leaving 20 minutes after we had planned to.

As we were all getting on the bus,. CFC decided she needed the bathroom. So we had to unlock the school building and everything for her. Grrr.

DSW wasn't feeling well and ended up missing the trip. Poor girl. But the principal and I both suspected that it had nothing to do with how she felt. DSW has a certain lazy streak to her that makes her very hesitant to leave her comfort zone- specially at 5 am.

The 20 minutes off our schedule made all the difference. We got stuck in traffic. By the time we got to the rest stop we had planned for, we didn't have as much time to spend there as we would have liked.

It didn't matter anyway. The girls took a lot of pictures, used the bathrooms, the driver flirted with me some more, and we were on our way.

CFC is such a nut. She brought a cooler on the trip, stocked with food as if she were going away for a year. She even brought a container of milk for her cereal. So did TG.

Finally, we made it to Rhode Island (after a lot of insanely loud cheering by the girls and a big headache by me). I had spend a good portion in the back of the bus with the girls teaching them stupid songs and taking pictures with them.

Our first stop was a boat ride in the Nantucket harbor. The girls were pretty immature and took pictures the entire time the tour guide was talking. I thought it was a chillul Hashem.

They were obsessed with grabbing snapshots of my sheitel flying in the breeze and of me chewing on my lunch. Yech.

There was a UPS guy waiting on line for tickets that kept making moves on me. My students noticed and politely informed him I was married with a baby. :) What is it about me that attract all these weirdos????

After the boat, we walked to the Touro Synagogue, where we had to sit out on the lawn for a while until our group was allowed in.

BK took a picture of me a second before I discovered I was sitting in dog poop. What a great look on my face. Lucky I was wearing a slinky skirt that washed everything off easily.

The synagogue was nice, but the speaker there was Conservative and I wasn't that impressed.

We took the girls souvenir shopping later, and they all had a good time. DZ found me a sweatshirt for JB that said "Its my smile that keeps me out of trouble". It was slightly faded, so it was on sale for 50 cents. I was thrilled.

We skipped the cliff walk we had planned and went straight to the bus instead. Of course I got lost with a couple of girls, trying to find the bus, but we got there before the rest of the class did anyway.

Of course, this was an ideal opportunity for the bus driver to make another move.

He was wearing jeans and a colored shirt and a baseball cap and had the whole get-up, and then when he opened his mouth to talk, it was with a Satmar accent. I was nauseated. Typical bum.

He asked me for my number. I showed him my diamond ring and told him that I only gave my number to men I thought could top what I already had. He shut up. :)

On the way to the topiary gardens, I had all the students dead quiet while I told them the stories of Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel. This generation gets all their stories from movies, so the old fairy tales are new to them. They were spellbound.

After I had finished both of the stories, the bus driver raised his hand and asked to hear the Three Little Pigs.

Finally, we got to the topiary garden, where the girls were spending more time taking pictures than actually looking at the stuff.

Later, they all rolled down this huge hill and I took some random candid shots that came out adorable. I emailed them to the school the next morning and there are some pictures hanging in the office.

We then went go-carting, and the girls were going crazy, bumping into each other and wreaking havoc. CFC got really mad at TG for cutting her off. She threw this whole tantrum that TG was ruining her trip because she cut her off in her go-cart. Baby.

Of course three of the guys working there had what to say to me too.

I called my husband and told him he had to count his blessings that I was coming home to him after all the offers I had gotten that day.

I think I'm going to become a nun.

The driver was very familiar with Rhode Island, and he took us to a nearby park where we ate supper and the girls made me eat some hot peppers to see if I'd choke. :)

The girls, led by DZ and BK, were horrors on the way back. They were cheering loudly until the bus driver threatened to stop the bus and let them find their own way home. :) I was so grateful for the peace and quiet after that.

The principal is a cutie who was fun to shmooze with during the trip. She was telling me that no one she had interviewed for my job was any good, and she would really like to have me back.

I dunno... ya think keeping thins blog open another year is worth my salary?

We got home at about 10:30 and I fell into bed right away, drained. The 8th grade didn't have school the next day, so I got to sleep late in the morning.